This isn't a souls-like game at all.

Bai Yu brushed off the sawdust on his hands, listened to his sigh, and responded seriously.

"And I've already held back. Otherwise, he would most likely not be able to withstand my attacks and would die."

Hearing this, Ye Yiyi looked at Bai Yu with a slightly confused expression.

"Do you want to listen to what you're saying? You've already given it your all, yet you're still holding back? Isn't that contradictory?"

“There is no contradiction.”

Bai Yu shook his head as a matter of course.

"Because he doesn't deserve my respect."

"Uh……"

What else could Ye Yiyi say at this moment? It was obvious that Bai Yu's logic was very rigorous and there was no flaw at all.

Standing in the ruined church, the old hunter Fan Weiluo, who had watched the female knight tear the tree knight apart with her bare hands, came over clapping his hands and praising from the bottom of his heart.

"Your Excellency Bai Yu's skills and martial arts are rare in the world. I finally understand why you can become Your Excellency Michaela's companion."

Erica, who was looking at the tree man's broken arm, looked a little uncomfortable when she heard this.

She never forgot the scene where she was defenseless and was dragged out of the church by Bai Yu like a chick.

"Are all Curse Hunters this powerful? In comparison, an Imperial Knight like me is too weak..."

Seeing the broken tree man's arm being put into a bag by the church hunters, she stood up with a sigh and walked to the side of the few people.

"Mister Michaela, Mister Baiyu, and Mister Fan Weiluo, we have the witnesses needed for the letter of condemnation. Without further delay, I should contact the Empire."

"Please do as you please, sir." The old hunter gracefully took off his hat.

Erica also bowed to everyone and left with mixed emotions.

Seeing that the lady was in a bad mood, Ye Yiyi was a little confused, but did not take it to heart. She just looked at Fan Weiluo curiously and asked.

"What is a letter of reprimand?"

"A form of diplomatic document, of an extremely serious nature, containing both condemnation and command."

"I understand the condemnation, but the order?"

Ye Yiyi was a little confused, "Can the Empire command the Cui Lengbai government?"

"OK."

Fan Willow nodded and explained:

"The Tsui Lengbai United States has a long coastline and is an important estuary of the Saints River. Therefore, it is extremely important economically and militarily. The Empire has multiple garrisons here."

"The garrison base..."

Ye Yiyi seemed to react. Erica seemed to have mentioned the garrison troops of Chantavia in the square outside before?

By the way, isn’t Chantavia the city where Bai Yu woke up?

He glanced silently at the frowning Bai Yu, and suddenly thought of the inexplicable words the archbishop had said to him before his death.

"The empire's high-pressure rule...?" He muttered to himself thoughtfully.

Bai Yu frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Since there are troops stationed there... does that mean the sovereignty of Cui Lengbai is not in the hands of the Cui Lengbai people?"

"You could say that," Fan Weiluo tapped his cane, "the current president of the Cui Lengbai United States was supported by the Empire's Xingji Consortium. In other words, he's just a puppet president.

"This president passed the City Lease Act, leasing several ports and industrial cities, including Chantavia, to the Empire."

"Can a city be rented out?" Ye Yiyi was a little confused. "What does that mean? Does it mean that once a city is rented out, it belongs to the empire?"

"That's not what I mean. The city and land still belong to Cui Lengbai, but the people who manage the city are the imperials."

"This is a bit outrageous..." Ye Yiyi felt bewildered, "And this management... what exactly does it refer to?"

"All."

"All?" Bai Yu cried out.

"Yes, all of them."

"Is this any different from selling out your country?!"

"Everyone in Cui Lengbai knows this is no different from selling out one's country."

Fan Weiluo lowered the brim of his hat and smiled helplessly, "But for most people in Cui Lengbai, including me, no one cares who is in power in the country."

"you?"

"To be honest, Ms. Michaela, I am a native of Cuilengbo." Fan Weiluo nodded slightly.

"Your country has become like this, and you can actually accept it?!"

Bai Yu looked stern, lowered his angry voice, and began to question.

"A country stationed troops on another country's soil and even sold off its cities. This is such a serious violation of sovereignty and dignity, and you don't care?"

Fan Weiluo was a little confused by Bai Yu's sudden change of attitude, and couldn't help but turn his head to look at Michaela.

"Bai Yu..."

Ye Yiyi pulled the female knight's arm and whispered, "It's not the same as before. It's not appropriate for you to do this..."

"..."

Bai Yu stared at Ye Yiyi in a daze, and finally reacted.

She took a deep breath, and her indignation faded.

"I'm sorry." She bowed to Fan Weiluo and apologized, "I said something inappropriate, please forgive me..."

"It's alright. I understand your patriotism. Please don't mind it." The old hunter smiled and shook his head. He then asked tentatively, "Sir Baiyu, you are not from the eastern border, are you?"

"What do you mean?"

Bai Yu was stunned, and was pinched silently by Ye Yiyi. Only then did he react and answered quickly, "Yes, I am indeed not from the eastern border."

"As expected." Fan Weiluo smiled. "If you were a native of the Eastern Border, or if you had some knowledge of the history of the empire, you wouldn't be asking me these questions."

Ye Yiyi and Bai Yu looked at each other, and both saw the doubt in each other's eyes.

Fan Weiluo did not show any impatience, but patiently explained to the two of them.

"Seventy years ago, Cui Lengbai wasn't even a country. It was just the name of a cat-people tribe."

"Seventy years ago?"

Ye Yiyi frowned, as if he had some impression of this number.

If I remember correctly, Count Görgen seemed to have told him?

"Is that when slavery was abolished in the empire?" he asked tentatively.

"That's right." Fan Willow nodded, "After the palace coup 70 years ago, the Rodno Empire passed the Imperial Act, changing the imperial system to a constitutional system.

"That same year, the 'Abolition of Non-Human and Human Slavery Act' was passed, and the Empire withdrew its interference in other countries and regions. With the assistance of the Hall of Stopping War, the Empire carried out internal reforms.

“After that, many countries bordering the east gradually established themselves or became independent, including Cui Lengbai.

"Tremblant was a nation founded by a group of human and cat-people slaves. Initially, it was just an autonomous city. Later, as neighboring nations perished, its territory gradually expanded, eventually developing into the present-day United States of Tremblant."

"Destroyed?" Bai Yu was puzzled. "Why? Didn't the Empire stop interfering with them?"

"Yes, although the Empire didn't interfere and focused on development behind closed doors, warlord infighting, religious jihads, subhuman uprisings, divine pollution, relic riots, and even various natural and man-made disasters were commonplace in the Eastern Border at the time, and therefore the demise of nations was also common.

"Some countries were even founded today and destroyed that same night."

"That sounds really messy..." Ye Yiyi frowned. "How many people will die then?"

"Many people died at that time, and the locust plague was the most devastating. At that time, outside of the imperial territory, most places were deserted."

"Locust plague..." Ye Yiyi muttered the word in his heart and swallowed.

The Insect Magician met Ezana while he was traveling during the locust plague.

Having said that, Fan Weiluo looked at Ye Yiyi with a hint of deep meaning in his eyes.

"Until a genius from the Hall of Peace invented a magic that changed the world."

"Surge Growth..." He whispered the name of the magic.

"Mister Michaela, I have heard about your experience in Garden Village. If you are going to the Empire, it would be best not to act under the name Michaela under certain circumstances."

Fan Willow sighed slightly. "It's not just the Empire. Many people in the eastern border have received Ezana's favor. In some places, there are even religious orders that believe in him... You should understand what I mean, right?"

"Is that so..." Ye Yiyi was silent for a moment, then shook his head helplessly, "I understand, but I don't regret killing him."

"A genius who once cherished life so much, disappeared for many years and became a blasphemer of life. It's not just me, many people can't accept it. Unfortunately, the facts are there, and we have to believe it."

Fan Willow was also somewhat helpless. "Ezana died as a dead person. He was infected by a secondary curse before his death..."

"It's the Deep," Ye Yiyi interrupted. "To be more precise, it's the profound magic that harnesses the deep darkness."

"I'll file a report with my superiors to request a revision of this statement," Van Willow said. "In short, please be careful."

"I see."

“Well, having said that, although Cui Lengbai survived those decades of disaster, it was already on the brink of extinction due to continuous natural and man-made disasters.

"Thirty-eight years ago, the Rodno Empire, having initially completed its industrial reforms, emerged upon the world with a brand new image. It expanded again through economic and military means, and used various media outlets to showcase the empire's wealth and strength."

"As soon as I heard this, I knew it was done by the Sons of Cyber." Ye Yiyi rolled his eyes in his heart.

"But the reforms only took 32 years? I thought with the help of magic, the number would be shorter."

"And the current president of Trenborough was elected at that time, and the city lease bill was passed at that time."

Fan Weiluo continued speaking while looking at Bai Yu.

"After the law came into effect, the Imperials sent a large amount of supplies and resources to Cui Lengbai and led the reform of the United States. Due to the huge obstacles, many 'upper-class people' died.

“However, no one can deny that it was the City Lease Act that saved Cui Lengbai, a country on the verge of death.

"Mr. Bai Yu, do you now understand the true meaning of 'selling out one's country'?"

Bai Yu was stunned and speechless.

Just as Ye Yiyi was about to speak, a church hunter with a pale face hurried to the crowd.

"Sir Van Willoughby, we have discovered something unspeakable in the ruins of the church. You had better come and see it."

Ye Yiyi and Fan Weiluo looked at each other, and the old hunter immediately raised his cane.

"Lead the way!"

Chapter 257 Human Hunting and Sacrifice Ceremony

Pulling up the dazed Bai Yu, the group, led by the hunter, came to the place that was originally the side hall of the church.

At this moment, the vines and rubble here have been cleared away, and several church hunters in white robes are collecting the bodies of the Knight Bureau members.

Not far away was the broken body of the Son of God of the Dense Forest.

The ten-meter-tall giant fell from the top of the tree, first cracking the ceiling of the main hall, and then smashing the main structure supporting the church, causing the main hall to collapse.

In the end, its body fell into the side hall which was still intact.

"This guy should be very difficult to deal with."

Passing by this simulated divine body whose green color had faded and whose vines had withered, the old hunter Fan Willow sighed.

"Aside from the descendants of ancient giants, I've only seen similar creatures with humanoid bodies this large in the northern border."

This sentence revealed a lot of information. He knew about the descendants of ancient giants and had seen them in the game.

Their scientific name is "dwarfs", but they are a giant sub-human race with a height of generally over five or six meters.

This type of enemy has a high soul volume and clumsy movements. Ye Yiyi often uses these giants to farm Soul Echoes in the game.

However, he was more interested in the similar existence on the northern border mentioned by Van Willow than the "dwarf" who knew what move the man would make as soon as he turned his butt, so he spoke up to take over the topic.

"Oh? A similar existence? What is that?"

"It's a Weapon Giant," Fan Weilo replied. "It looks like a giant, but its limbs and head are shaped like weapons. It looks very strange. It's the polluter of the Weapon Slaughter Lord's divinity."

"war……?"

Ye Yiyi thought of the "war beast" that Agosto had talked about with him.